What the Fisher roster move tells us about the Springer and Altuve injuries

Per Jake Kaplan’s Twitter, the Astros will call up Derek Fisher to replace George Springer, who’s out anywhere from ten days to two months with a hamstring. Before going into a rage, let me explain why this is absolutely great news.

You think Fisher is replacing Springer, but he’s actually replacing José Altuve, who, based on the Fisher call-up, should be back soon. Huh?! Has Exile gone crazy? Is he drinking from the same soup as Boyce and Trips? (We luv ya Boyce)

Altuve’s replacement was Corbin Martin, meaning that when he went down on May 12th, he was replaced with an 8th BP arm. Since then, the Astros have had a three-man bench (Stasi, Jake, Kemp), with Diaz essentially a starter. Now that Springer is down, Jake becomes a starter and Fisher becomes a back up.

If Altuve was still two weeks away, I imagine we’d see Tucker up. After all, Tucker projects as a much better player. But just like in the Mexico series, we see Fisher because the time is so short, and they’d rather not interrupt the routine of Tucker or Alvarez. When Tucker and Alvarez come up, Luhnow would prefer that it be for good. As much as we want Tucker, it’s a good thing that Fisher got the call, because it means our heart and soul, Altuve, is almost ready to come back.

For now we’ll see an OF of Brantley, Jake, and Reddick. I’m not sure when Altuve comes off, but I’d love getting Brantley a start at DH, and letting Fisher play LF for a game or two.

There will be plenty of time for Tucker and Alvarez, to murder and create a baseball, to lift and drop a series sweep on your plate, and time for a hundred indecisions this season. They’ll make their mark. But let’s be happy it’s Fisher.